


Moonlight Shadow

by Hibibun



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Allusions to Suicide Ideation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:08:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hibibun/pseuds/Hibibun
Summary: Ryoji sees the blood and butterflies leading him to Minato knowing he can't do a thing. It doesn't stop him from going, up until he can't.
Relationships: Arisato Minato/Mochizuki Ryoji, Mochizuki Ryoji/Yuuki Makoto
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	Moonlight Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> ive fell into the hole that is the magnus archives and couldn't help applying end avatar imagery to ryoji because it fits so nicely. it's alright if you don't know anything about the series going into this it isn't really necessary. as usual, i simply like to think about ryoji being drawn to minato despite the circumstances of their existence. 
> 
> thank you very much to ash who read it over and also suggested a title! it's apparently from a song called moonlight shadow by mike oldfield

The night they meet is the first of many times Ryoji has attempted to stop Minato from reaching his end.

He’s been following the messy, complicated thread that ties them together, and gets as far as Iwatodai’s train station before he spots him. Over and over in his dreams, Ryoji has seen that dorm bathed in blood and surrounded by stark shadows. And as he gets closer, every time there is a trail of bright, blue butterflies leading him up the staircase and to Minato’s door.

His hand reaches for the knob, but just like all the times before, he opens the door and finds a corpse waiting for him. The second his foot breaches the threshold, butterflies burst from the figure on the bed and he wakes.

Ryoji doesn’t really know the person he’s been dreaming about, and yet, he does down to his very core.

So when he feels that same tug and sees the butterflies leading him to the station, it isn’t surprising to see Minato there. He doesn’t know where he’s trying to go this late, but Ryoji knows it can’t be anywhere else other than the dorm, however much Minato may want otherwise.

In the end, they talk and Minato goes home. The butterflies follow him inside the train terminal, and Ryoji knows he’s only put off the inevitable. It’s not his time yet though. And for that, he is grateful.

There is nothing he can do for the others he sees, and he knows as he closes his eyes, in hours they will be coffins, submerged in those inky shadows.

It’s futile to resist, and often times, he doesn’t try to intervene anymore. Something about Minato is elusively special though, so he becomes an exception. He doesn’t try to warn the business man who has a trail of growing shadows follow him, nor the woman in the white dress with long, red hair whose clothes have phantom blood on them.

Instead, he makes himself into Minato’s shadow. A harbinger, unwittingly putting off what he knows can’t really be avoided. He’ll hold onto him as long as he can, convince him to hang in there just a little longer. To see what’s in front of him and just how little time he really has left—how little time they all have left.

Every night, he still dreams of that boy surrounded by butterflies, and watches with a small, helpless smile because he knows he can’t save him.

As the leaves fall from the trees for good, there are no games or solution he has to offer for what is to come. Only a choice. He could never change things, but with his new awareness, perhaps he can provide brief solace.

“You won’t feel any pain. You can forget about it until the end.”

“I can’t.”

Ryoji wants to beg more for the one thing he feels he can finally give Minato. Every other thing he has given has also been temporary, but this kind of peace could be enough. He sees it now. The resolve to live even in the face of death. The acceptance of their coming fate. He’s done what he can, and merely grieves everything else he cannot change.

“When we meet next, it will be for the last time like this.”

“I know.”

Minato doesn’t say anything else, but as Ryoji leaves, he feels forgiven. They are the wings of the same butterfly, and it isn’t until their last meeting does he realize what choice Minato really made.

He may not be able to save Minato, but in the end he is able to give him enough mercy to help his friends. They will die here together—and in return, they will be spared.

**Author's Note:**

> if there is anything i neglected to tag for, feel free to let me know! thank you for reading!


End file.
